Conveyer.



W. JOHNSON.

CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 3. I9I8.

Patented Mar. 18, 1919.

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l N V ENTOR l/I/f/IINER JOHNSON ATTORNEY W. JOHNSON.

CONVEYER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. a. I9I8.

Patented Mar. 18,1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- v INV ENTOR WER/V53 JOHNS oN .Qlmdfmv ATTORNEY WERNERl JOHNSON, OE SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

CONVEYER.

Specieaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 18, 1919.

Application led September 3, 191B. Seriallo. 252,479.

To'aZZ 'whom it may concerns VBe it known that l, WERNER J OHNsoN, a citizen of the United Statesfwesiding at Seattle, in the county of King t nd State of lVashington, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Conveyers,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in link belt -conveyers that are adapted to be used for conveying cans through retorts or exhaust boxes and the object of my invention is to provide a conveyer embodying a plurality of trackways arranged side by side in tiers one above another in such manner that a single endless chain may be used, said chain passing back and forth along all of the trackways in one tier and thence passing to an adjacent ti'er and back and forth along all of the trackways in the adjacent tier and continuing in this -manner -until it has traversed the ent-ire length of all of ,said trackways.

A -:turther object is to twist certain of the trackways through one-fourth of one complete turn so that a 'link belt conveyer chain will run over successive sprocket wheels that are mounted for rotation in planes at right angles to each other Iand to twist certain yother trackways through one-half of one complete turn so that a sprocket chain that follows the twist of these rtrackways and has arms that project outwardly from one side thereof. can be made to run back'and forth in side by side relation over a plurality of sprocket. whieels disposed in a common plane `and will always have the side from which the arms project turned outwardly or away from the sprocket wheels.

A still further object is to pro-vide a retort wherein the trackways are disposed in closely associated and compact relation so l that the retort will have a large capacity in proportion to irts size and the cans will remain` in the retort for a relatively long period of time during their passage therethrough.

My invention consists in the` novel construction and arrangement of the trackways and in the adaptation and combination therewith of the link belt conveyer and actuating mechanism therefor as will be more clearly heremafter described and claimed.

I accomplish these objects by deyices accompanying drawmgs,

broken line 2, 2 of Fig. 1 the trackways be'- ing shown in elevation;

Fig. 3 isa view in cross-section on broken line 3; 3 of Fig. l the ends of the trackw'ays being shown in elevation;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail illustrating the construction of the ends of the trackways;

Fig. 5 is la view in perspective of a link that may be used in the link belt oonveyer;

Fig.' 6 is an enlarged view in cross-section *illustrating the structure of 'a preferred form of trackway;

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of the trackway shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a somewhat diagrammatic view partly in cross-section and partly in plan illustrating :a modified form of my invention;

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary view in cross-section of a trackway 4that may be used in the device illustrated inFig. 8; and

' Fig. 10 isa view in perspective of a form of link that is adapted to be used in connection with the device shown in 8.

Referring to the drawings throughout which like neferenoe numerals indicate like parts', the numeral 11 designates the walls of a-retort which may be formed of a substantially rectangular shape and are of steam tight construction so that steam under pressure may be retained therein.

Disposed within the retort 11 are a plurality of trackwlays that substantially fill the interior of the retort and through which cans 12 are adapted to be continuously moved. The traokvway's that are disposed on each of the opposite sides of the retort and herein designated by' the numerals 13 are each twisted through one-fourth 4,of one complete turn4 so that they will turn the cans through an angle of ninety degrees, as the cans pass from one end to the other of the retort.

Connected with the tra'ckways 13 and disposed within the central portion of the retort are other trackways 14 that are each twisted through one-,half of one complete turn so that they will turn .a can through an'angle of one hundred andeighty degrees during its passage from one end ofthe retort to the otherl end. All of the trackways 13 and 14 are preferably rovided with chain guides 15 as illustrate -in Flg. 6 w1th1n which a link belt conveyer chain 16 may l run and by which such chain 16 is twisted to conform'tothe twist of the tracks.

4The link -belt conveyor is of the ordina-ry type .and is provided at frequent intervals.

y with links 17, as shown in Fig. 5, that are each formed .with an arm 18. projecting therefrom-.at right angles to the plane of the link, the arms 18 being adapted to engage the can-s 12 and move them along the trackways 13 and 14.

The link belt conveyer 16 is adapted to v pass around sprocket wheels 20 that are mounted for rotation ina horizontal plane and around other sprocket wheels 21l that are mounted for rotation in a vertical plane, the sprocket wlhe'els 20 being rigidly secured upon vertical shafts 22 that are connected by bevel gears 23 with transverse shafts 24 at each end of the retort.

The shafts 24 are provided on the exterior of the retort with sprocket wheels 25 and are adapted to be driven by sprocket chains 26, shown diagrammatioally in Fig. 1, that pass around lsprocket wheels 27 that are mounted for rotation and may be connected with `a belt pulley 28 by which they may be driven.

By the arrangement described it will be seenthart each of the sprocket wheels 20 is a driving wheel so that the conveyer chain is diriven from a plurality of different points and no section of the chain is subjected to excessive strain. I The cans 12 are admitted to the retort through a passageway 30 that connects with a cylindrical casing 31 .within which is rotatably mounted a wheel 32 having peripheral vanes'33 that are spaced from each other a sufficient distance to admit .a can therebetween and that are `adapted to make a close fit with the w-alls of the casing 31 to prevent the escape of steam. p

'Dhe casing 31 is provided withan inlet opening 34 through which cans may be admitted and is vprovided below the inlet opening 34 with an opening 35 for the discharge of steam.

The wheel 32 may be connected with suitable actuating mechanism, not shown, by

which it may be rotated at the proper speed l any considerable amount of steam, .the only as fast asvv steam that is lost being that which fills the l space between adjacent vanes 33 as the wheel j f l `7 5 .e

32 rotates. Y,

vThe outlet mechanism for the cans is simi- .j lar to the feeding mechanism just described v and .COIYIJPfISeS a. Wheel 36 rotatably mount- 'i 'Y ed with a cylindrical casing 37 thatiscon'- nected by a passageway 38 l'with the last..

with a discharge passageway 40 so that when I the wheel 36 is rotated the cans 12 will enter f l on such wheel and 'discharge wardly around another idler sprocket 42 as, shown in Fig. 2A and into the end4 ofr the rtrackway in'w'hich the cans enter, the arms 18 on t'he links 17 receiving the cans 12 from the inlet passageway 30. v

-When the cans 12 are received by the conveyer chain 16 they are in a horizontal'position or are lying on their sides and as they pass toward the opposite end of the retort through the first trackway 13 theyl will be gradually turned by the twist in the trackf way from a horizontal to a vertical position and will be standing on end as they pass around the first sprocket wheel 20.

The cans are thence moved backward and forward from one end to the other of the ref tort until they have traversed its entire width, and are thence carried downwardly f o'nto the next flight of trackways where they will be conveyed back and. forth until they reach the opposite side of the retort and are caused to pass downwardly on to the next flight of trackvways. j

In this manner it will be readily seen traekways to the other until they have moved from the inlet to the discharge, passageway 4of the retort.

By twisting the trackways 13 at the outer one Hight of trackways to the next Hight bel-ow, the one-fourth twist enabling the conveyer chain 16 to pass over a sprocket wheel 21 arranged in a vertical plane at one end of the retort and a sprocket wheel 20 arranged in ahorizontal .plane in .the opposite end of v the retorft.

As the sprocket chain passes around the .130

so trackway of the retort and that is provided.

.j around an idler sprocket 41 and thence up- 111sv that the cans will pass from'one flight of 1 ,12o sides of the retort through one-fourth of one`l i complete rturn the cansare'transferred from sprocketl wheel 20 it fwil'l be observed that the arms 18 project .outwardly in radial directions' from such sprocket wheel and it will.

be readily seen that if the sprocket chain is 'allowed to pass to the next sprocket wheel 20 at the opposite end ofthe retort without b'eing twisted the device will be inoperative for the reason that the arms 18 will'be turned linwardly toward the last named sprocket wheel. For this reason 1 have found it necessary to twist the trackways 14 between .successive horizontal sprocket wheels 20 through one-half of one complete turn so that the sections of fthe lin-k` belt conveyer 16 between successive horizontal sprocket wheels 20wi1l betwisted through one-half of one complete revolution, :thereby causing the yarms 18 always to project outwardly from the sprocketwheels 20 around. which the link belt consecured between two of the angle bars 43 in such manner that it willbe slightly below theplane of the cans that are .supportedwithin the trackways, the strip 44 to which the chain guides 15 are secured preferably being spaced from the angle bars 43 by blocks 45.

The ends of two trackways that lie side by side may be connected by a semi-circular track member 46 through which the cans 12 may pass from one trackway to another.

In Figs. 8, 9 and 10 1 -have illustrateda modified form of construction by which 1 am enabled to dispose a plurality of trackways in tiers one above the other to cause cans to traverse throughout the entire length of the trackways in one tier and thence to be transferred to the tra'ckways in an adjacent tier. 4

1n this modified `form of construction I provide a retort 50 that is of substantially the same form of construction as the retort 11 4and may be provided with inlet and outlet means similar to the inlet and outlet means shown and described in connection with Figs, 1 and 2. f

Within the retort 50 there is provided a plurality of trackways 51 and 52, the trackways 51 being located at the sides of the retort and each being twisted through one- .fourth on one complete turn inv substancated between side trackways are not twisted at all and are disposed side by side and connected at their outer ends by curved sections 53 so that the cans may pass continuously from one to the other of such trackways.

The trackways 52 may be constructed of four angle bars 54 that are secured together by cleats or strips 55. The lower portion 'of the trackways 52 may be provided with a chain guide 56 of a form more clearly shown 'in Fig. 9.

The sprocket chain 57 used in this form of conveyer is of the ordinary well known type and is provided a/t frequent intervals With links 58 that are each formed with an upwardly projecting rib 60 that. terminates in a flight or paddle 61.

The conveyer chain ,57 is adapted to be disposed edgewise withinv the chain guide 56 in such manner that the ights 61 will project within the trackways 5l and 52 to engage the cans and move them lengthwise within the trackways..

' lt will be readily seen that any number of tiers of trackways of the form illustrated in Fig. 8 may be disposed one above the other within a retort, the one-fourth twist that is imparted to the side trackway 51 enabling the conveyer chain and can to 'pass from one tier of trackw'ays to another.

The conveyer chain 57 is adapted to run over sprocket wheels 62 that are secured on vertical shafts 63 at opposite endsK of the straight tra'ckways 52 and are necessarily disposed below the level of the bottom of such trackways.

The driving mechanism for the device shown in Fig. 8 may be similar to the driving mechanismillustrated in Figs. 1, 2" and 3, each of the shafts 63 being driven so that the strain will not be excessive on. any section of the conveyer chain 57.

It is obvious that changes in the precise form of construction and arrangement ct' the various parts of my invention may be resorted to within the scope of the following claims:

What I claim is:

1. A conveyer of the class described com prising a plurality of tiers of trackways disposed in Iparallel planes, certain of said trackways being twisted through one-fourth of Aone complete turn and an endless link belt conveyer movable continuously throughout the entire length of all of said'trackways the said twisted trackways permitting' an endless conveyer chain moYable in said chain' guides.

3. A device of the class vdescribed comprising a retort, a. plurality of tiers of trackways disposesdl therein in parallel planes,`

the outside trackW-ays of each tier being twisted through one-fourth of onecom-plete turn and connected with the outside trackways of the tiers next adjacent and an endless conveyer chain adapted .to follow said trackways and lbeing twisted to conform to the twist of said outside trackways. 4. A device of the class described comprising a retort, a plurali-ty of tiers of trackways disposed therein in parallel planes, the outside trackways of each .tier being twisted through one-fourth of one complete turn and connected with the outside track- 'ways of the tiers next adjacent, and the trackways disposed .between said side trackways being without any twist and an endless conveyerchain adapted tofollow said track- WERNER JOHNSON. 

